System Center Configuration Manager enables IT with a flexible and costeffective way to provision, manage, and control diverse user-centric experiences
management difficult without the
need for multiple complex and
overlapping management tools. IT has
needed to balance these needs with
the growing user requirement to
provide for a flexible work
environment that is ‘user-first’ in
approach.
What has been missing is a client
management approach that is usercentric without being overly complex
or expensive, while simplifying and
consolidating onto a single, unified
tool. Configuration Manager v.Next
provides for these capabilities with
comprehensive user-centric
management tools that can help IT to
manage and provide people with
software that is tied to their identity
and can follow them across multiple
devices and access scenarios.
System Center Configuration Manager
v.Next is uniquely positioned to
provide for powerful and flexible usercentric management, allowing people
to be able to seamlessly access their
data from virtually anywhere, across
multiple device types while providing
IT with unified management tools and
centralized control.
www.microsoft.com/systemcenter
Providing for User-Centric
Management
Flexible Delivery of Applications
In today’s modern workforce, people
need tools that allow them virtually
‘anywhere, anytime’ access to their
data. They are increasingly accessing
organizational data from multiple
locations and on disparate devices
ranging from mobile phones and
Internet kiosks, to thin-client or home
PCs. They need tools that can help
them to work fluidly on multiple
devices and networks, virtually
anywhere and anytime with usercentric configurations tied to their
unique identity instead of to individual
devices.
Configuration Manager v.Next
automatically delivers people
applications by sensing and
responding to system conditions that
can be used to intelligently deploy
those applications in using a method
most appropriate to the situation—a
concept known as Conditional
Delivery. People get the best
experience with each of their devices
through a process that distinguishes
between primary and secondary
devices and delivers services in the
most appropriate way— including
traditional, streaming, or from a
presentation server.
Traditionally, IT has had a difficult time
managing multiple device types.
Compliance, cost, control, and security
have combined to make this type of
It provides for this functionality by
allowing administrators to identify
user-facing characteristics of the
application, such as user type, device,
location, language, and category.
These Conditional Delivery Rules,
based on system and user conditions,
can be leveraged to deliver resources
in an optimal way.
Configuration Manager v.Next allows
for this type of application delivery
through a new application model
where the application itself is defined
once, then delivered through multiple
channels such as virtual, mobile, on
presentation servers, or via traditional
application deployment. This allows
for a significantly simplified application
deployment process.
The applications themselves are
protected with state-based delivery,
which continues to provide people
with predictable and reliable access to
applications in the event that they are
damaged or accidently deleted.
Empowering People with On-Demand
Applications
Configuration Manager v.Next helps
to reduce the load on IT staff by
providing people with an intuitive,
self-service Web portal that allows
anywhere access to enterprise
applications that are dynamically
customized by the user’s identity and
role, helping to make people more
effective, productive, and empowered.
This rich storefront experience allows
people to intuitively find and select
which applications they need access to
– making it easy to let people choose
exactly what they need to do their
jobs, when they need it.
Unifying Management Tools
Management of multiple device types
has traditionally led to a proliferation
of management tools and consoles.
Configuration Manager v.Next helps
modernize IT, providing for a
simplified, lean, and unified
infrastructure for management and
security to streamline your operational
costs. Centralized management of
desktop virtualization platforms,
including Microsoft Application
Virtualization (App-v), Microsoft
Enterprise Virtualization (Med-V), and
Citrix XenApp, is also integrated into
the Configuration Manager v.Next
infrastructure. This helps IT provide
unified management of traditional
PCs, thin clients, and the back-end
infrastructure.
In addition, Configuration Manager
v.Next provides for robust mobile
device management support on
®
multiple platforms such as Windows
Phone and Nokia Symbian, enabling
people to self-provision applications,
control settings, and manage mobile
device updates.
Forefront® EndPoint Protection will
also be built on Configuration
Manager v.Next. Forefront EndPoint
Protection and Configuration Manager
are being brought together to help
organizations gain efficiency in client
protection management by reducing
infrastructure and simplifying
deployment, thus helping to reduce
costs.
Simplify IT Processes to Reduce Costs
and Support Compliance
Configuration Manager v.Next
provides IT with the tools necessary to
control disparate devices to help keep
assets available and the IT
environment audit-ready.
With Configuration Manager v.Next
you can set baseline configurations for
your client systems to help
automatically detect vulnerabilities
based on changed configurations and
to help identify non-compliance
issues. With IT-defined automated
remediation in Configuration Manager
v.Next, configurations that have been
changed from the baseline
configuration can be detected and
automatically reset to the desired
configuration to further enhance
system compliance.
Simplifying Management
Administrative Improvements
Configuration Manager v.Next
eliminates the need for additional
primary Configuration Manager sites,
which were traditionally used for data
segmentation, by allowing for
throttling and scheduling capabilities
on distribution points as well as in
primary sites. This allows for
Configuration Manager site design
flexibility that was not possible with
previous versions.
The administrator console in
Configuration Manager v.Next has
been significantly enhanced with the
addition of a role-based access
control (RBAC) model that provides
administrators with a streamlined
console customized to their specific
role—granting only what they need to
do their job.
In addition, Configuration Manager
v.Next provides for a ‘self-healing
client’, that auto-remediates client
health, even if the client is removed.
This can significantly reduce IT
administrative overhead and improve
deployment reliability.
Providing an Integrated Platform
Configuration Manager v.Next
provides for integrated end-to end IT
client lifecycle management, from
imaging to application delivery,
maintenance, patching, and
remediation, as well as supporting
decommissioning of the devices—all
through a single tool.
Additionally, Configuration Manager
v.Next provides tight interoperability
with Windows with features such as
BranchCache™, direct access, powersaving settings, the User State
Migration Toolkit (USMT), and the
Application Compatibility Toolkit
(ACT). Because of this interoperability,
it can help administrators get the most
from Windows clients while gaining
efficiencies in management.
Configuration Manager v.Next
provides for interoperability across the
entire client lifecycle with strong
interoperability with the System Center
Client Management Suite (CMS),
including System Center Service
Manager, an integrated platform for
automating and adapting IT Service
Management best practices to an
organization’s requirements. It
provides built-in processes based on
industry best practices for incident and
problem resolution, change control,
and asset lifecycle management.
Through its configuration
management database (CMDB) and
process integration, Service Manager
automatically connects knowledge and
information from Configuration
Manager and System Center
Operations Manager to create a
comprehensive service management
application.
Legacy Configuration Manager
Migration and Support
Organizations with existing
investments in legacy Configuration
Manager environments can take note
that a direct migration is provided for
existing Configuration Manager Sites,
packages, collections, reports, client
inventory data, and other investments
made in existing environments.
In addition to supporting new usercentric management concepts,
Configuration Manager v.Next
provides support for an organization’s
existing traditional device-centric
management models. The product
does not require organizations to
immediately replace legacy
management techniques and can
instead make a slow and gradual
move to the new models. This allows
for the flexibility to take advantage of
new upgrade features without
necessarily switching to new
management models in entirety.
In addition, Configuration Manager
v.Next can help reduce overall IT
operational costs by offering a unified
infrastructure that provides for endto-end management and security,
helping to improve IT operations.
Finally, Configuration Manager v.Next
provides for a single view into overall
client health, and allows for IT controls
and remediation automation that
helps to enhance the overall client
management approach.
For more information, see the System
Center homepage:
http://www.microsoft.com/systemcent
er/en/us/default.aspx
Empower, Unify, Simplify
Configuration Manager v.Next allows
for a comprehensive user-centric
approach to client management, tying
applications directly to a user’s identity
and allowing applications to follow
people across multiple device types.
Combined with user-friendly tools
such as the self-service portal,
Configuration Manager v.Next
empowers people with the flexibility to
work from multiple locations and on
multiple devices.
For more information about Microsoft System Center, visit www.microsoft.com/systemcenter.
This data sheet is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
The information contained in this document relates to pre-release software product, which may be substantially modified before its first commercial release. Accordingly, the
information may not accurately describe or reflect the software product when first commercially released. This document is provided for informational purposes only, and Microsoft
makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to this document or the information contained in it.